Strapping machine



Nov. 23, 1943. T. w. J. WILLCOX STRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 3, 1940 3Sheets-Sheet l Attorney Nov. 23, 1943.

STRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 5, 1940 3 Shets-Sheet 2 Nov. 23, 1943. T.w. J. WILLCOX STRAPPING MACHINE Filed June 3, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Attorney ent invention provides 3, siifiiioi'tifig 'lievi' A i prisingtwo portionswhich move in ttlr'ii tjfi'efr'fiit Patented Nov. 23', 1943,

Willi a a i rh o rmr ln u es, nkv

h smieatwii june 3}1940;ia lN6;338;590 l In"Great-Brltain August 24,1939 l or the like ofthe strapping nianizi': ipr'es: geese:

turn tothe package-suiiporting iositio'n' V The invention aIsepMvids"stoo devisfb'if locating packages relativeiy ts 'essofa'tti strappingmecha"'sh'ipath of the pckage,-whe' pon maid? the level of the from ofthe arrested package."

.A stop in aceqruancewitii martian conveniently applied to apparetilspackage supporting device as described-abs ing carried by one ofthesupporting iiiembe'i: the movement of which from the-v sl'lpl ftinig15b: sition: provides the automatic remove-1 t-hestofi from the path of:thepackage This sea-mi e 6t the invention is,: however', capa:blle ofoth''r a p plications ,-the movement of the stop bi'rfg ie: vided for inany suitable way;

When it is desired to determine automatically the correct successivepositionsof a'pa'ckager'el tivel-y to strapping mechanismfor the;su'cce's applications of a plurality ofrstra'ppin'gs, a responding;number of stops maybe if Moreover, the force of impactbevvn page ageand" a stop" maybe rn-filoye'd fto control the operation ofassociatedniecfianisrh.

The aecempanymg drawings; ustrate at tyiiif cal forrfi of thenventieeept ieu than ailitdfii t c wire tyih'g machine in which wi eirofrff'ei'co SV fed tdwire-tr'aining'meaw fr weerian 6f machine, thatis" to say isreatothe ma'c'hir'ie at toinatie stops; I l

'p'rovetl structure; arm will lowin description;

- the 'iiirection the i'verse tit-that .in wiiith tii packages; aredischarged after straia'iiing. In triesdrawihsr V v Fig. ms" a frontelevation, a

Figsz is a side'eievation, and r is l 1Figs i3 shes arluetans malargergscaiez Figure fizis'fia perspective view showingtne an:

.The'pies'ent improvements are directedto the type of machineillustratedpaiticuiafly lriBri tisH; PatentNo. 523 786; issuedto'H';Harves Jaifliiafy 3,-: 1939, and many of the'v'det'ails of thatpater'ltareefnbodied irrthe nresent showing as 60mm:

tional parts to ShOWi the. applicationhfi the" nix;

As'will be clear from the v.il's shown, there: is a steel angleiraiiiework r whichzis attached: at a-mitmbr of'fo'oints Z ta the V mam frameof any suitable automatic strapialfig machine; a .platfornirof whichisirrdicatel at"; i/The shaft 3 is mounted. om hearings or tl'fframework and at one ndacarriesai gear? wheel I which receivesitsmotiomfroimaiainioni ofltl'f main machine; This pinion may, a's showh,Be that which drives the deviceby which theihigh't of thewiref iscarriedarou'nci successive package's? 'I hefirive is trainsmitted fromthis shaft '3' by means of a-chain" and'sprockets indicated at" fi'amfenclosed in chain case 60! to: anothershaft mpm' which is mounted thecianl arm-.8; Immediate ly aborve' the shaft This a spindzle l9 m'ouhte'dpm: i allel to the sh'agfta below: Two steel structure spindle 9' andcarryaaseries of conveyor rollers; Hf V Ha at the top: 1 The.frarr'ieworks" I'll andi War are each-arrangedto pivotindenentlntly. irran ands M; anagram and: Ma; :The respectiveiiairs or links f3 angl Mandl-3u-and- Maare clearlvishbwn e u e 2. f-t -draw es as se er i k-p rts,

endfie e eme frQm j l re th sq i gpart .inorder to pc Meet the desiredoperation are pi'v-E British patent referre'li to; the wire-is carriedabout the packae hy ring r MU, Figure 2; to which the wire is fed from asource of supply, the'jtletails of the wire tying;

are attached chain links Island the chainsl'land llaare carried roundsprockets l8 1 and Mia and are attached to the links M and Ma as shownat l9. The ratio of the gears and chain sprockets are the same as thatbetween pinion and the device carrying'the wire round a box or otherpackage, so that shaft i makes one complete revolution g'simultaneously'with each such j :H ll .1

This rotates the crank arm 8 in ananti-cloclrlo wisel'direction and thecrank arm roller 2Q engages with the left hand suspended arm w swingingit inan outward direction. This pulls the right hand'chain Ila whichpulls on the ver-'-'- J underside of the box. When the box comes intocontact with the first stop as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the stop andthe rods uponwhich it is mounted are, by the'force of contactQpushed' uaway to the right (Fig. 4), compressing the' springs 29 until the collar39 is inabutment with thebearing3ll; r M V i ii-Th5 box: is; thenstopped in this position and th ewire is at 'this stage carried aroundit for the tie to bemade; During this'operation the frame- 'workswings'away as previously described, and in tical link to which it isattached and caiises the it right hand frame work Ilia to swingoutwardly,-

thus allowing awire carrying tube 2|, or other.

part of the main machine which carries the bight of the wire coming fromthe fixed tube 2 la round the box, to moveto the right without. ohstrucf2o.

tionl -When the-crank arm 8 has mcve'dhalf way round itwil l haveallowed the suspended arnil5, and consequently the frame work Illatoreturn to the normal position. lrThe platform r liilandthe threerollers Ii orcllavor'onecframework can al apparent that a pair of links;as li and i4,are

held against possibility of inward moveme nmob-i vious; from the centersof the connected frameworkwlfl'and'the-pivot I33 and the bottom pivot oflink lhandlalsozthe restrain of chain 1?. Furthermore, the 'relation issuch; that the-operated'frameworkl'tl can. only move outwardly onspindleiirinoperation and cannot 'afiect the re-' maining frameworkIlla, which is-inclependently pivoted and held by its link parts: iSa-and Ma and thelchainflmf V 7 ways support a boxofnormalproportions.-It is,

work returns the -s'top comes up underneath the When the tie is over therollers H- and" Ha until-it reaches the secondstop 28;, whichpha's a-return spring 28a;

Herega; similar operation occursibut in this cas e theistop; is broughtin contact-withthel side of 'thelboxfl andjnot-unclerneath it. Whenthesecond tieyis completed the boxis then free to slide forward onto-theconveyor 33 waiting to carry it away. V Iheside supports of the rollersII and :iIn continuing its revolution .however it; then I the left handchain i1 and consequently the link l4 which swings the left handframework [0 outwards allowing freedom of passage to'the wire carryingtube 21 @to its original position aftericomq pletingthe. encirclingofthe box. Antextension to-the frameworks l9 and lilo is shownlin arms 72-2Iandl 22 a:which:carrycounterbalance weights 231and: Zita-which.retain the mechanism in equi librium, ;apart"from' the pull exerted bythe springs l2. .As willlbe seen in the British patent. referred to',thelwireiisfed from a source of supply to'a clamp for delivery to-thering MEL In: connection:with: the present:construction, and particularlythe 'movable. frameworks 19, it is desirable thatthef-incomihgwire beprevented from being entangled'in the:.moving parts. For this purpose,

thelwireis'ledlhrough a tube 21a fixed to-the machine frame, and thenthrough a tube -2l,-'securedto and carried by the ring Mil, and'delive'ringthe wire to the appropriate relation to" such engages with [the righthand suspended arm [5o which isi swung in an outwardldirection pulhng40" I la, are however piv otedfiat 34 which enables the rollersjtof tipata slight angle immediately the centre-ofjgravity of -theibox haspassedqthis point; thus accelerating the motion of the box in its enitfrom themachine; gAbutments 38 and a re-. 7

t rn S in -13 rol th -act ,Ifhe locking collar 35 attached-to the'heacl-jofthespringplunger. 3Qto which is attachedla Bowden 'cable; 31.The other, end ,of

, c ends of the ro ds 25 and 26 is arrangedtoxconliaot with j i-doingsqj the spring 29 exerts itself. and the stop r returns to its normalposition. When the frame box instead of remaining at the end'of it,slight- "ly' extending the return spring 21a, the final re-' turnofthestop toits initial position taking place rwhen theibox moves past it.a Y 7 7 completed; the box is then free toislide forward a the" Bowden"cable operates a trip key, ;or-' other. 1

suitable device, which aotuates the mechanism of the tying machine andthuS eachtim'e th ebox' contacts with one. oi these stops, they and therods upon which they are-carried; -move forward to pass on this motionto the Bowden cab1e;,thus.

automatically; operating the; tying machine. I QfIhe machine describedabove in considerable detail is a typical example of: the inventionlandit isnotintended that the monopoly claimed should be limited tothef'specific constructions ang ex ept 51 t ,d.- vari us .modifica- 1tions and,-, quiv l l may lo v ou y e. m loye without departing from theterms ;of the claims. It w ill be plain that"the wire is fed; from acoil through :the fixed tube 21a to-thetubefl which performs'thefunction of the operators armQ-in the. hand-encircled, gmachines,; andis-w-lcarried ring for thexoperation described in the British patent,and with which the. present invention is not particularlyiconcerned.Thetube 2| extendsfrom ithe ring I 4%! laterally thereof and between theframeworks H), as shown in Figure lpt o avoid wireientanglementc.Thecourse of the wirebeing fed ,lisillustratedin dotted lines in Figure-2.

if On "the left-hand framework a carrier'24 is attached supporting twoparallel horizontal rods Hand- 26 upon wh ich'aut'omatic stopsare mounted. These areshown in detail in Figi 3, 4. and'5. The first Step2! "ismounted on the Iinnerrod '26 and iis free toj pivot against the actionofa return spr n '1 a. downward i eet bnto $1 7o round the circleindicated in front of the platform, with the-bight of the-wire; after.the'end l of the-wire has been gripped in the gripper of aconventionaltying mechanisin'located under the edge of the table ina'conventional manner; 3

' I claim:

1. In apparatus for strapping packages the combination; of means.;:to"t'rain La -1 bight :of

strapping material about an package with a plu-f 1 rality of packagesuppbrts and means to move 7 outof thewa'yvof the bightthe s p o s n t oe m i o s.

, for, the said device comprising movable supports and means tosynchronise the movement of the supports to move successively away fromand back into supporting position as a bight of the strapping materialis trained about the package.

4. Apparatus for stopping boxes or other suitable packages in positionon a strapping mapackcombination of means to train a bight of strappingmaterial about a packag'efwith two supports forthat part'of the packageproject-.

ing beyondthe strapping position,means to guide the strapping materialbetween the said supports, a member between the said supports drivensynchronously with the training means,

t the said member causing one of the said supports to move asidetemporarily to permit the material to pass away from the positionbetween the supports to encircle the package-and the other of saidsupports to-move aside temporarily to allow the material to return toits initial position.

chine while the strapping material is trained aboutthem and secured, inwhich'a member carrying a stop is moved awayfrom the package by meanssynchronised to operate during the latter. part of the cycle and isreturned with the stop in" such a position that it no longeroperates asa stop until released to return to the original position when; thepackage is moved away.

5. Apparatus for stopping boxes or other suit-,

able packages in position on a strapping machine while the strappingmaterial is trained about them and secured, in which the frontsupporting means for the package carries several stops giving successivestrapping positions and moved away to clear the package by meanssynchronised to operate during the latter part of the successivestrapping cycles, all the stops being released to return to theiroriginal positions when the package is moved. away.

6. A supporting device for supporting that part of a package whichprojects beyond the strapping position in automatic strapping apparatushaving means to train strapping material about a package and drivingmeans therefor, the said device comprising alternative supports andmeans, driven in synchronism withthe said training means, forsuccessively moving the said supports out of the path of the bight ofthe strapping material as the latter is trained about the packagetogether with a stop in the path of the packages a means actuated by theimpact of a package against the stop automatically to start thestrapping mechanism. a

7. In apparatus for strapping packages the -8. In apparatus forstrapping packages the combination of means to train a bight ofstrapping material about a package with a, plurality of package supportsand means to move the supports in turn out of the way of the bight topermit it to pass the said supports including sets of rollers. on apivoted mounting enabling them to tip slightly as soon as'the centre ofgravity of the package has passed'the pivot andaccelerating its movementaway from the machine.

9. In an automatic strapping machine, stop devices for locatingboxes orother suitable packages relatively to associated strapping mech-- anismwherein one or more stops are moved forward to a package arrestingposition upon contact by the front of a moving package and subsequentlyautomatically moved from the path of thepackage and returned behind theposition at which they serve to arrest the package.

10. In an automatic strapping machine, devices according to claim 9 inwhich the stop or stops are returned behind the position at which theyserve to arrest the package but within the length ,of the package, lyingagainst it until the package is discharged, when they return to theposition which the front of a subsequent package will contact.

11. In an automatic strappingmachine having strapping mechanism, stopdevices for locating packages relative to such strapping mechanism, 2,front support for the package carrying said 7 stop devices, and meanssynchronized with the

